The Beginning of a New World
by Lady Avotil
Summary: Well, it's an Underworld/Harry Potter Xover and it's my first fanfic. In this story, Hermione and Harry are both kidnapped by mysterious creatures at the age of 5 and their future lives would change two worlds forever.
1. Chapter 1

N.B.: Okay, I don't now why I wrote it. It's my first fanfic and it's an Underwolrd/Harry Potter Xover. Enjoy, and comments are welcome, as well as constructive criticism. ^_^

_**Chapter 1: The Beginning**_

It was a full-moon night and a 5-year old Hermione was sitting in the garden of her house whilst her parents had invited 2 old school friends over for dinner. Just a few days ago she had this strange dream in which she was a witch and that she was enlisted in a magic school called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". This had been by far her best and favorite dream so far and one that did not involve dentists.

Just as the little girl was contemplating what her life in such a school would be like, she heard a scream coming from behind her. Hermione stood up from her sitting position and approached the door that led from the house to the garden. Suddenly, just as she was about to step through the door, something turned around the corner and headed towards the frightened girl. The animal lunged itself at the small child when an arrow planted itself into the side of the wolf-like being, which dropped dead to the floor, just a few feet in front of the 5-year old girl.

Hermione was staring at the monster lying in front of her when someone stepped into her field of vision. Hermione looked up and saw a powerful-looking man with amazing blue eyes coming down the stairs and towards her, holding a crossbow in his hand. The piercing ice-blue eyes looked down towards the girl as if they were scanning her. The man slowly crouched down to the little child's eye-level and the warm chocolate brown eyes looked into the cold ice-blue ones.

Before Hermione knew it she felt two sharp objects piercing her skin and sinking into her little neck. The girl noticed the man had gotten behind her, no doubt to check if she had been injured by the strange animals attack. Suddenly, Hermione felt a gulping sound right next to her, as if someone was drinking something. At the same moment the young girl felt a pain unlike anything she had ever experienced before spread from the side of her neck across her entire body. A strangled cry of pain escaped her lips and, despite the great pain in her little body, she felt the two pointy objects leave her neck, as well as the man standing up. Having nothing to lean on, Hermione fell with a thud on her back in the soft grass.

Although her vision was foggy, the little girl could still clearly see the outline of the man that had rescued her from the animals attack. He took a long object out of his mantle-cape-like thing and sliced at his wrist with it. Hermione closed her eyes and suddenly felt something warm fall on her cheek. She forced her eyes open again and saw that the man was nearing his hand to her mouth, his skin touching hers and, bringing with the touch, the feeling of the same warm substance that had fallen on her face. Unconsciously she opened her mouth and felt a warm liquid trickle into her mouth. Her dry throat wanted more of it and so Hermione reached with a weak and trembling hand towards the wrist near her face and brought it closer to her mouth, finally touching the skin with her lips and starting to suck the substance that saved her aching, dry throat. Suddenly, the arm was pulled back and slowly darkness closed in around her until she was completely consumed by it and passed out.

Even if Hermione didn't know it, this one moment would change her life forever. A few kilometers away, a similar event was happening at Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging.

It was a full-moon night and a 5-year old Harry was sitting in the garden of the Dursley's, who, for once, were out of the house. Harry had done all the chores for the day assigned to him by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and was now getting some rest.

Just as the little boy was contemplating what his life would be like in the future, the bushes at the other end of the garden twitched. Harry slowly got up from his sitting position and carefully approached the still-twitching bushes. Suddenly something sprang from the bush and headed towards the frightened boy. The animal stopped dead in his tracks just in front of the shaking boy, sniffed him and nodded his head, as if agreeing to something. Being too shocked to notice before, Harry looked at the animal and saw that it was standing on its hindlegs. The wolf-like being suddenly crouched down on all fours and started circling the little boy, waiting for the opportune moment to strike and the moment came soon. Harry had closed his eyes out of fear and seeing his chance, the monster jumped at him and bit into the nape of the boy's neck, who screamed in pain. Deciding that that was enough, the creature released the boy who fell limp on the grass and stayed so, although the child was still breathing.

The animal then started to change and a human appeared in its place. Naked, but a human nonetheless. He had long(really long!), black hair, which hung messed up around his face. The man kneeled down, took the unconscious form of the boy into his hands, lifting him up with ease. Before Harry completely passed out, he heard the man say: "If you truly are a descendant of Corvinus, then you should be just fine…"

The two little children didn't know it, but their lives would make two different worlds….well….different.

N.B.: Okay, crapy beginning and crapy ending. I have no idea what will become of this. Please, comment and if you like it I'll continue with the story.^_^


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: 6 years later**_

An 11-year old brown-haired girl was watching the July full-moon in the night sky from her balcony, when the man, who had saved her life 6 years ago, stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders in a fatherly manner.

-"What were you thinking about, my dear?" he asked.

The girl turned around and her crystal-blue eyes met the ice-blue ones of the man. She smiled at him and answered:

-"Nothing, Viktor. I was just thinking about the night you saved my life from that horrible lycan and when you told me about my parents."

_**Flashback (Viktor's point of view)**_

The little girl slowly started to wake up from her dreamless sleep, when Viktor entered the room he had put her in. He went over to her bed and sat down on the chair beside it. The tired child turned its head towards the man, opened its eyes and looked at him. The girl's once chocolate brown eyes had turned into brilliant crystal-blue ones.

-"Where am I and who are you?" she wearily asked.

-"You are safe now, my child. I'm Viktor." he answered, smiling reassuringly at her.

-"What happened? Where are mommy and daddy?"

-"Your house was ravaged by a lycan, a werewolf, and, to my great regret, your parents are dead, killed by that monster. I wasn't there in time to save them, but I managed to at least save you." he answered her with a sad look in his eyes.

-"Where am I?", the confused girl asked again, slowly absorbing the information Viktor had given her, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

-"You are in the safety of my manor and my…our…coven. We will take good care of you."

-"Coven?"

-"Yes, coven. A vampire coven. The night your house was attacked, I turned you into one of us." he told her, as if it was the most obvious thing to do in that situation.

-"Why? Why did you…turn…me?" the little girl asked, barely keeping her eyes open and trying to suppress a yawn.

-"Sleep, my dear. You need to rest.", and with that he stood up and quickly left her room, closing the door behind him.

Outside the door he leaned back on it and brought his hand to his eyes. From the moment he had laid her down on the bed, he had thought about why he had made her a vampire. Ever since Selene had betrayed him and had died by his sword, he had felt a horrible emptiness in his heart. He blamed that abomination of a hybrid, Michael Corvin, for her death. The werewolf-dominant hybrid had fought later on with Marcus, the first ever vampire, now also a mix between both species. The two hybrids had killed each other: Marcus wounded Michael severely and beyond regeneration and Marcus, who was thrown into the spinning blades of a crashed helicopter by the barely living and seriously wounded Michael, was ripped to pieces, whilst Michael succumbed a few minutes later to his wounds and died. Or at least that's what the Cleaners had written in their reports.

On this night Viktor had been just strolling around the streets, thinking about Selene and how much her betrayal and death had stung/hurt him, when he had heard the scream coming from that house. He had gotten there in time to see the little brown-haired girl standing there and that lycan running towards her, ready to kill her. Before he knew it, he had killed that monstrosity and bitten her. 'Maybe, just maybe, she could fill that void left in my heart by both Sonja and Selene', the vampire elder thought as he walked down the hallway towards his room.

_**End of Flashback**_

-"And why, if I may ask, where you thinking about that sad day?", the vampire asked, silently thinking how well the girl had actually filled that void left by the two people he had loved more than anything.

-"I don't know. Just forget it", she said, looking absentmindedly in front of her.

Suddenly, as if she had remembered something, she turned around to Viktor and said: "Oh, a few minutes ago an owl dropped an envelope on my bed which is addressed to "Hermione Granger". There is no one named Hermione Granger in the manor/coven. Who is she?"

-I have no idea, Solene", Viktor said, wondering who this person might be," I have no idea at all…"

_**Somewhere else….. **_

Lucian watched from his balcony as a young boy with messy, long, black hair fought 3 of his best warriors and beat all three of then in a bit less than a minute. When the beaten down men started turning into lycans, so did the boy. Even in werewolf form the 3 warriors were thrown down. The boy-lycan gave a roar of victory and changed back into a human. The boy looked up to the balcony just in time to see Lucian jump down and walk towards him with a smile on his face.

-"Well done, Alex! I couldn't have done it better myself. You're training is going well and is almost complete! Go to you room, put on some clothes and prepare for dinner."

-"Thanks, Lucian. You know, sometimes I wish you were my real father", Alex said.

-"Even if I'm not your real father, I'm proud of you as if you were my own son", Lucian replied, smiling fondly at the boy, "Now get dressed and come down for dinner."

-"Yes, I'll be down in a few minutes", the young boy happily said and left for his room.

Just as Alex was putting a T-shirt on, an owl swooped into the room through the open window, dropped something on his bed and flew back out the window into the night. The boy bent down and picked up a letter from his bed. Alex was confused. The letter was addressed to "Harry Potter". Who was this Harry Potter?

Alex went back downstairs, the letter in his hand, and went over to Lucian, his sire, who was standing in front of the portrait of a beautiful woman, looking sadly at it.

-"Lucian, do you know a guy by the name of Harry Potter? This letter is for him, but was delivered to my room."

Lucian took the letter, opened it and read it, raising an eyebrow as he did so. After finishing reading the letter, he ripped it into little pieces and then went over to the fireplace at the end of the room and threw the pieces one by one into the burning fire, watching as they turned to ashes. He then walked over to the boy and said:

-"No idea, Alex. Just ignore it", Lucian said, putting an arm around the boy's shoulders and leading him towards the dinner table, where their "meals" were lying on a plate, waiting to be eaten…

_**N.B.:**_ Okay, this is Chapter 2. I changed the ending of the first movie a bit and let Selene and Michael die and Lucian and Viktor survive.^_^

Please comment and review this story.^_^


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**__**, Part 1**_

A tall, thin and, judging by the silver hair and beard, very old man stood in front of an old house. He was wearing long robes, a dark-blue cloak that swept the ground, and black boots. His blue eyes were sparkling behind his half-moon spectacles and his nose was long and crooked, as if it had been broken at least twice.

Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of the old house that served as the lycan's den (although Dumbledore didn't know it) and hoped beyond all hope that Harry Potter, the boy who had gone missing 6 years ago, was in there, whole and alive. The old man approached the house and watched as two men with guns came out of the shadows of the door and stopped in front of him.

-"Excuse me, could you let me through?" Dumbledore kindly (and politely) asked the two men.

-"No, state your business first", the one on the left said.

-"I'm here to see Harry Potter. He should be 11 years old right now and he has a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead" the wizard replied.

-"We ain't got anyone 'ere by the name o' 'Arry Potter", the one at the right said, "But", he continued, "We do 'ave a boy 'round the age o' 11."

-"Can I meet this boy?" the old man asked, a glint of hope in his eyes.

-"I'll go in and ask him and his sire if they wish to see you. If not, be prepared to run for your life, old man.", the man on the left said, grinning like a wolf.

-"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked confused.

-"You'll see…Hopefully" the man replied and went into the house.

After what seemed like hours to the old man, the man came out again. With a frown on his face, he turned to the other one:

-"Seems like we are destined to not be lucky…ever." He turned to Dumbledore and said:

-"You're lucky, old man. I'll show you to the…um…living room. Follow me."

The wizard followed the man inside, up some stairs, along a hallway and then through a door on the left. As Dumbledore was going into the room, he was wondering how Prof. McGonnagal was doing with the other person that had disappeared 6 years ago as well – Hermione Granger.

Her parents and two other people had been killed by some sort of creature. Their bodies were found, but not the child's (body). However, since both Harry and Hermione had been in the Hogwarts student list, the owls sent to find them to give them their letters had come back and then led Dumbledore and McGonnagal to the respective places where the children were.

_**Somewhere else, unbeknownst to Dumbledore, but knownst to the readers, Prof. McGonnagal was about to have similar problems entering the manor. **_

'Why did I let Dumbledore talk me into this? I could have been in bed by now…' Minerva McGonnagal thought. She was a rather severe-looking woman and was wearing square glasses. She had an emerald-green cloak on and her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. The middle-aged woman looked distinctly uneasy and worried as she walked down the alley leading to the entrance door of the manor. Suddenly, the professor stopped as two men clad in black leather and holding guns came out of the manor and headed towards her. When they reached her, the one on the left said:

-"State your business or go away."

-"I'm Minerva McGonnagal and I'm here to see Hermione Granger", McGonnagal said.

-"I'm sorry, madam, but we don't have anyone named Hermione Granger here. If that's all you–"

-"She should be around the age of 11 by now", the witch cut off the guard on the right.

-"We do have a girl around the age of 11", the left guard said," I'll go ask Lord Viktor if he wishes to see you."

With that the guard went inside and, after a long and uncomfortable silence outside, came out again.

-"This way, madam. You're expected by his lordship."

As McGonnagal went through the door she wondered how Dumbledore was managing with the boy's retrieval…

_**N.B.:**_ Well, I've decided to divide Chapter 3 into 3 parts and this is Part 1. I don't know how old McGonnagal is and so I wrote "middle-aged", because I wouldn't really say that she is old.

I hope you enjoy Part 1 and, as always, please comment and review and advise and/or constructive criticism is always welcome.^_^


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 3, Part 2**_

_**Meanwhile at the house…**_

Dumbledore entered the room and then the guard closed the door behind him. Dumbledore looked around the room and saw a man with messy, long (really long), black hair, some of it tied into a long pony tail at the back (of his head). The man turned his head towards Dumbledore and smiled.

- "So, you're the one who is looking for an 11-year old boy. Why do you think he is here?"

- "I have my ways", Dumbledore said, also smiling, "where is Harry now?", he eagerly asked.

- "I don't know about anyone called "Harry", but Alex is on his way. He'll be here shortly. But, forgive my manners. My name is Lucian."

-"Forgive my manners as well. I'm Albus Dumbledore."

Just as the two men shook their hands, the door to the living room opened and Dumbledore turned around. There stood a young boy with messy, long black hair, some of it also tied into a pony tail at the back, just like Lucian's. The boy wore nothing else, except a pair of shorts.

-"Ah! Alex, you're here", Lucian said, smiling at the boy like a father would at his son," Alex, this here is Albus Dumbledore."

-"Pleased to meet you. So, what did you call me here for, Lucian?", Alex said.

-"Well, actually, this man here came to see you", Lucian answered and then turned to Dumbledore," I hope that this'll be quick. Alex needs to continue his training."

-"I'm afraid that he won't be able to do that because I'm here to take Harry back where he belongs – with us, not with you.

-"Wait a moment there, old man, how can you be 100% sure that Alex is your "Harry"?", Lucian asked, a flicker of anger in his eyes.

-"Harry…I mean Alex…please, show me your forehead", the wizard asked of the boy, confident that he was right.

What Dumbledore saw, however, when the boy moved his bangs aside from his forehead, completely stunned him.

-"That's not possible!", Dumbledore cried out as he jumped up from his seat. There was no scar whatsoever on Alex's forehead. "Why is there no scar!?"

-"There was, but we cut it out", Lucian calmly answered.

-"Cut it out? But then there should be some trace of the cut out flesh and there is nothing! Why?"

-"Our species heal fast, old man. I'd have expected you to know, seeing as you're a wizard and all."

-"Your species? You're humans! And how did you know that I'm a wizard?"

"We are NOT humans. We are lycans, werewolves, and you just reek of magic, old man. I smelled your magic before you even reached the house.", said Lucian as he stood up as well.

The wizard looked at Lucian and then at Alex and back again at Lucian. He just couldn't believe his ears. Harry Potter, the magical world's only hope to defeat the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, was now a werewolf?

"Show him Alex. Show him just how powerful we are – no longer influenced by the moon." Lucian told the boy, who just gave his sire a big grin and then suddenly his eyes seemed to change their colour, becoming electric blue. Before Dumbledore's wide eyes Alex changed into a werewolf and after the transformation was complete, the boy-lycan gave a terrifying roar.

-"Can you control such an animal in a school, professor? Could you guarantee the safety of the other children and teachers?", Lucian asked, slowly advancing towards Dumbledore, who was slowly backing away from the lycan master." I think not. Alex won't come to your stupid school of witchcraft and wizardry, right Alex?", Lucian said, looking at Alex who had changed back into a human and was just finishing putting on a new pair of shorts.

-"You don't even have to ask me, Lucian. You know as well as I do that I'd rather die than leave your side", Alex answered.

When Dumbledore saw that words would get him nowhere, he did the only thing he could think of: he quickly got out his wand, shot a stunning spell at the boy, grabbed Alex's/Harry's arm and apparated away from the house, just outside Hogwarts' school grounds.

'Hopefully Minerva won't have to use magic, as I did, to get Hermione here', the old wizard thought as he used his wand to create a long, silver(the material, not colour) chain and start to put it around Alex's/Harry's unconscious form…

_**N.B.:**_ Well, here is Part 2 of Chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it and, as always, reviews, comments, constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome.^_^

I hope that the chapters are not too short.^_^


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 3, Part 3**_

_**Meanwhile, McGonnagal was entering the manor in which she hoped she would find Hermione Granger.**_

- "I've noticed that everyone in this room has blue eyes like you",

McGonnagal said to the guard showing her the way whilst they were passing through the foyer, hoping to strike up a conversation and find out more about the manor and the people in it.

- "Yes, we are a…um…"special family", the guard carefully answered, before going up some stairs, along a hallway, turning to the left and through a door at the right.

When McGonnagal went through the intricately carved double-doors she found herself in a sort of throne room. It was a big hall with an elegant throne at the end of it, a man with even bluer eyes than the people in the manor sitting in it. The guard knelt down and stood up again.

- "Leave us", the man on the throne ordered. The guard inclined his head and went outside the room, closing the doors behind him.

- "So, you're searching for a certain "Hermione Granger", is that right?", he continued.

- "Yes, that's right and I-"

- "Then I'm sad to say that there is no such person here in my manor. Leave now and don't come back ever again, lest you wish to die."

- "Now, hold on a minute! I came here to see a girl who I know received a letter addressed to "Hermione Granger". Please, at least call her here so that I can meet her", McGonnagal pleaded, wondering how she was going to get the girl to come with her to Hogwarts.

- "Hmm…very well. But if you dare do anything to my Solene, you'll pay for it in blood, literally", threateningly the man said. Then, he stood up, strode to the doors of the throne room and opened them.

- "Khan, get Solene here."

- "Yes, my lord", a man outside said.

The man closed the door again, strode back to his throne and sat down on it. He turned his head to the middle-aged woman and his ice-blue eyes looked at her, sending a shiver down her spine/back.

- "Solene will be here shortly. Remember my words, woman", he said.

Just as he finished his sentence, the big double-doors opened and a girl with long, straight(yes, not bushy), brown hair came into the hall and walked up to the man on the throne, completely ignoring McGonnagal.

- "What did you call me here for, Viktor?", she asked, looking at Viktor with her crystal-blue eyes and smiling at him.

- "This woman here wanted to see you, my dear", he told her with a fatherly look in his eyes, making their ice-blue colour…well…warmer.

- "Girl, McGonnagal said, making Solene raise an eyebrow and look at her, your name is Hermione Granger and you are going to come with me to the place where you belong – with me in our world, not here", she continued, failing to notice how Viktor was progressively getting angrier and angrier with every word she said to Solene.

- "Woman! How dare you talk like that to my Solene! You'll pay for this, right now!", Viktor shouted in anger.

Viktor stood up from his throne and before McGonnagal could get her wand out, he quickly walked over to her, caught her by the throat and lifted her up in the air with one hand, reminding him of a similar situation many, many years ago. Quickly getting her wand out McGonnagal apparated, not realizing that she had taken Viktor along as well.

When they arrived at the apparition point outside of the Hogwarts school grounds Viktor released the middle-aged witch and looked at his surroundings in confusion. Then he spotted the castle just ahead. Because Viktor was distracted he didn't notice the stunning spell McGonnagal had shot coming his way and didn't manage to avoid it. It hit him full-blast. McGonnagal didn't waste any time and apparated back to the throne room, stepped a few meters away from the unconscious ruler, revived him and quickly apparated back to Hogwarts. Before Viktor could get up he only heard a faint "pop" and watched as the middle-aged witch disappeared.

McGonnagal arrived at the apparition point just outside of the school, went over to Hermione and levitated her unconscious form into the air. After looking around quickly, she spotted Dumbledore a few meters away near the edge of the forest surrounding the castle and school grounds and started walking towards the old wizard. When she finally reached him, she saw Dumbledore finish putting a long, silver chain around the half-naked, unconscious form of a boy no older than 11. Dumbledore looked up, saw McGonnagal, smiled sadly at her and asked:

- "I take it from that fight that you were not successful in persuading that man to let go of Hermione and had to bring her by force as well?"

- "Albus, McGonnagal said, don't tell me you had to bring Harry here by force as well!"

- "Unfortunately, Minerva, I had to. What's worse is that Harry is a werewolf and my hope is that Hermione at least is still normal."

- "I strongly doubt that, Albus. The manor where Hermione was was full with strange people who had blue eyes. ONLY, blue eyes. Not only that, but they also possessed great strength", the tired witch said, unconsciously rubbing her slightly reddened neck where Viktor's hand had been and the angry man had almost managed to strangle her. Pointing to the floating form behind her she said "Hermione's unconscious right now, but when she wakes up, we need to question her, and Harry as well, with Veritaserum about how their lives have been until now", McGonnagal replied.

- "Yes, that might be a good idea", Dumbledore conceded, looking sadly at the two forms lying on the ground.

_**Meanwhile**__**, at the manor…**_

- "I want that witch's head served to me on a plate and her blood in a pitcher(?)! Find her at all costs!", Viktor yelled through the entire manor. 'If anyone does anything to my Solene, they will pay for it…severely', he thought as he went to his room(not the throne room) and started to make plans for an invasion of the castle that he had seen and was sure was the school the letter had mentioned Solene was supposed to go to. However, he then realized he didn't even know where it exactly was.

_**At the same time in the old house…**_

- "Get my best pursuers and tell them to follow Alex's sent to wherever it leads or it is! Where Alex is, is also that old man…Albus Dumbledore…I want him brought to me!", Lucian yelled through the house and then he thought 'Then, after hours and hours of torture, he'll be thrown in a big pit and there will be a feast for me and Alex'. Lucian was just going up to his room when he got a call on his cell-phone.

- "Yes? Reeze! What is it?...Really? And he did what?...That's interesting…"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 4**_

Solene slowly woke up and tried to move her hands. When they wouldn't even budge a centimeter she opened her eyes and looked at them. They were tightly held together by a strange yellow light. Solene tried to move them again, but failed like the first time. 'All right, if they want it the hard way, they get it' She tried a third time but this time used her vampire strength and yet again, her hands didn't move. 'What is this great force that can't even be broken by vampire strength?'

Just then there was a movement ahead of her and she looked up. Having been too busy with her hands she hadn't noticed that she was, in fact, in a prison cell. When she tried to stand, she couldn't and looked down to her feet, finding out in dismay that her feet, like her hands, were surrounded by the mysterious yellow light. Again there was that noise and Solene, giving up on trying to free herself, looked up and through the bars to the cell across from hers.

It was dark outside of her cell. For vampires seeing in the dark was the same as for humans seeing in the light and so Solene had no problems looking through the bars of the opposite cell. There was someone, a boy no older than herself Solene presumed, bound by a long silver chain that covered the upper half of his body. It seemed like he was just waking up. Suddenly Solene's other heightened senses kicked back into life and she was suddenly overwhelmed by a strong smell she knew very well – werewolves. She tried to listen if there was any movement outside her cell, trying to find the lycans by hearing alone, but couldn't. Solene looked at the boy in the other cell and sniffed the air in his direction. No sooner had she taken a whiff of the air that the same sent contacted her nose. Wrinkling her nose and turning her head so as to face the wall to her left she quickly realized that the boy was a werewolf. 'So that's why he is bound by a silver chain.'

Curiosity getting the better of her, Solene turned her crystal-blue eyes to the young boy-lycan and looked closely at his hands and feet. Sure enough, there was a yellow light surrounding them. Just then the boy opened his eyes and looked around wearily, as if waking up from a very long sleep. The boy's emerald-green eyes locked on to hers and seeing her unnaturally blue eyes he immediately knew what was in the cell across from him – a vampire, his natural and sworn enemy. He slightly bared his teeth to her, showing his sharp canine teeth that couldn't possibly belong to a human. Immediately in response to the threat Solene barred her teeth as well, showing him a perfect row of white teeth and her sharp vampire fangs.

Solene hadn't expected the lycan boy to threaten her and immediately showed him her teeth. She knew, just as anyone in the coven, that she was one of the deadliest hunters and probably the best rookie Death Dealer. Rookie Death dealers only accompanied the senior ones on recon missions, but that didn't mean that they were exempt of danger. On her first rookie mission Solene had been attacked by the creature she hated most. To the surprise of the senior Death Dealers, she just grabbed the lycan by the throat with one hand and with the other quickly twisted his neck, snapping it in half and killing the creature. Viktor had been very proud of her when they came back and gave him their report on the recon mission.

Viktor…Oh, how she loved him. He was like a father to her after he had rescued her from that werewolf 6 years ago. When Solene had come back from the recon mission and he had read the report, Solene thought for some unknown reason that he was going to be angry with her. It turned out to be quite the opposite. He had been proud of her, had praised her that rarely does a young vampire survive their first encounter with a lycan. She had been very proud on that day 4 years ago and that was the moment Solene had accidentally called him "father" for the first time. She had regretted it immediately and had quickly run to her room and thrown herself on her big, comfortable bed where she had started crying. After a few minutes there had been a knock on her door and Viktor came in. She hadn't heard the knock or the door open and close. She only became aware that there was someone in her room when he had sat down next to her crying form.

- "Solene, why are you crying, my dear?", he had asked, concerned for her well-being. He wasn't used to seeing her cry - she had only cried the night he had rescued her.

- "I'm sorry that I called you…that…Viktor", Solene had answered, still crying. She hadn't expected him to then gently pick her up, put her on his lap and embrace her in a loving way.

- "Don't cry, Solene…Of course you can call me "father" or "dad", because you are like a daughter to me. You, my child, are the most precious thing in my heart", he softly whispered in her ear and that made Solene cry even more, but not tears of sadness or regret, but tears of joy and happiness.

Ever since then Solene had called him "father" or "dad", but only when they were alone. In public, she called him "Viktor". At first, the vampires of the coven had been absolutely upset with her for calling him by his name and not by a title like "my lord" or "Sire". One of the more aristocratic and snob vampires one day had addressed him as "Viktor" and the price he had paid for that was….well, the ultimate price anyone could pay – death. Viktor had then made an announcement that Solene could call him by his name, because she was very important to him and that that privilege was only hers. After that the coven had criticized her behind her back and probably insulted her as well, but as she grew older and moved up in the ranks of the rookie Death Dealers they had come to respect and even fear her.

Remembering all that made Solene only smile as she looked at the confused expression on the lycan boy's face. She then remembered something Viktor had told her. Taunting a trapped werewolf was an experience she wasn't going to miss out on, not even if the entire lycan boy's clan came to free him or if the world was going to end.

- "I see that you finally woke up, lycan boy. So, how does it feel to have the silver burning your skin?", she asked him, smirking as his confused expression made way for an angry one. Then, confusing her this time, a smirk formed on his lips.

- "I don't know. I supposed it feels the same like you vampires feel when walking in the sun" he retorted. 'Not a bad come-back…for a lycan', Solene though, 'pity that it won't work'. She smirked as well, confusing the young werewolf again.

- "I wouldn't know that now, would I? You see, lycan, I'm not like the rest of my kind. I don't burn in sunlight – I merely get a nice light tan."

- "You don't….burn? Not at all? Not even smoke a little?", the bewildered boy asked.

- "Nope. Not even a little smoke rises from my skin as the rays of the sun touch it" she contentedly replied. 'Maybe I should find out a bit more about this specific lycan…'

- "Boy, what is your name?"

- "What? Why should I tell you? You're a vampire!"

- "All right, how about this: You tell me your name and I tell you mine. Do we have an accord?"

- "Well…alright. My name is Alexander, but everyone is too lazy to pronounce my entire name and so they all just call me "Alex". What about yours?", the boy…no…Alex, asked her, intrigued as to why she had suddenly changed the entire nature of the conversation they had started.

- "My name is Solene. I have no nicknames. Alex, eh? Nice name. So, were you always a lycan? I mean, under "always", understand "from birth"

- "Uh, no. My sire rescued me from my abusive uncle, aunt and cousin when I was 5 years old. They used to always beat me up. I don't regret becoming a werewolf, because that saved me from those horrible people. What about you? Were you born a vampire or were you bitten by one?"

- "No, like you I wasn't born this way. No. A lycan slaughtered my family one night, when I was only 5 years old. Luckily, my sire rescued me. He couldn't just leave me there and so he took me with him, I became a vampire, and I have lived with my coven ever since then", Solene answered. 'Why am I even talking to this werewolf?'

- "Um….So, do you know where we are or why we are even here? We have to be here for some reason after all….wherever here is", Alex said.

- "Well, no. I can only remember that there was this old woman that came and she wanted to take me away somewhere and then I think I fell unconscious until I woke up just now."

- "An old woman? Strange…we were visited by an old man and he was a wizard. He then did something and I can't remember for the life of me what happened afterwards. Seems like I passed out too" Alex sadly said, a frown appearing on his face.

- "A wizard? Then that means that that old woman that came must have been a witch. Oh, I'll kill her for bringing me here!" I shouted, anger getting the better of me.

- "Oh, I don't think you will be doing that, Miss Granger. You see, I really don't want to die…yet. And for your information, I'm not old. I'm middle-aged, at the most", said professor McGonnagal as she entered the dungeons and went to the only two cells Hogwarts had.

- "You! Oh, you old witch, you may want to live, but you signed your death warrant by taking me away from the manor." I quietly told her, a dangerous look in my eyes. Solene apparently managed to frighten her with her threat because the "middle-aged" witch backed up a few steps. Alex, despite the fact that he was confused as to who this woman was, smiled at her reaction.

- "Oh, come now, Miss Granger. We only want what is best for you…For both of you.", said Dumbledore as he entered the dungeons right after McGonnagal and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. This time it was Solene's turn to be confused and Alex's to be angry.

- "You! Old man, take me back to my clan! I swear to God that if I ever get the chance I will kill you!", Alex shouted, desperately trying to free himself from the chain that was preventing him to transform and to jump at the old wizard and kill him.

- "Now, now, Harry. What goes for Miss Granger goes for you as well. We really only want what is best for you.", the old man calmly replied to the threat, a twinkle in his eye as if he was amused.

- "Now that you are awake we can finally proceed to the questioning. Don't worry, we won't hurt you. You'll just have a little drink, and that's all", Dumbledore happily announced, as if he had waited all his life for this moment.

There was an almost inaudible click that Solene just somehow knew came from the lock of her cell and indeed she was right as McGonnagal opened it and carefully entered it, Solene's threat apparently still going through her head. Solene couldn't help but smile at the old witch's precautious steps. Without a warning, she pointed her wand at the young vampire and Solene was levitated off the floor, not impressed or scared at all by the display of magic. Seeing that she had not managed to affect the girl at all with her magic, McGonagall's eyes widened in fear.

She quickly brought Solene out of the cell and set her down into a normal, wooden chair that had appeared out of no where right before both hers and Alex's cells began. Dumbledore was standing there, holding two vials of clear liquid. When Solene was in the chair, and tightly bound to it, he opened one of the vials and forcedly poured it into the resisting young vampire's mouth. Tipping her head back, Dumbledore watched as Solene was forced to swallow the potion that Professor Snape had made for their two "guests".

_**Meanwhile at the mansion….**_

Viktor was furious. He was sitting at his desk, a map in front of him and he was still trying to find out where this "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" was. There had to be a castle like that somewhere!

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door and Viktor sighed in exasperation. 'I thought I told them not to bother me unless it was an emergency' he thought as he quickly strode over to the intricately carved door of his room and opened it.

- "What is it?", he asked the guard standing outside, annoyance clear in his voice.

- "I'm s-so-sorry to disturb you my lord, but there are two lycans i-in f-fr-front of the gates and it a-ap-ppears that L-Lucian himself wants to speak with you", the guard stuttered as he saw the enraged look on his lords face.

- "What? Lucian is here? What the hell does he want? To die? Oh well, it's his funeral, coming here…Disarm them and bring them to the throne room. I will be there shortly", the vampire elder ordered the guard, who only nodded and went down to fulfill his lords command.

'What has Lucian planned? He definitely isn't here just to chat, that's for sure….Oh, Solene, come back to me, my daughter.', Viktor thought as he quickly put on his "ruler" coat, as Solene had called it when she had been small and had seen it for the first time. The thoughts and memories of Solene deeply hurt Viktor. He wanted to find his daughter and the one who took her would pay dearly…with her life.

_**Outside the gates of the mansion….**_

Lucian was waiting with the only other person he could trust to come with him on this "mission", Raze. He hoped beyond hope that Viktor would agree with what he had to propose. The chances were slim and he would probably be killed, but he had to try. He just had to…

_**N.B.:**_ Sorry it took me so long to publish this chapter, but I've been hella busy with school - 10th grade is truly a nightmare….-_-'…..

Anyways, please comment and, if it's possible, make the comments long. I love reading long comments and I think that a writer's best reward is a long comment.^_^


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 5**_

Dumbledore pulled his hand back and looked at the vial – the clear/transparent liquid was gone and the elongated, glass bottle was now completely empty. Smiling, he turned to the girl in the chair in front of him and looked at her. She was glaring back at him and if looks could kill, Dumbledore would have been worse than dead.

-"Now that you have drunk the Veritaserum, Miss Granger, you are going to answer a few questions. Firstly, what-"

- "Veritaserum? That's Latin for "truth serum". So you thought you would interrogate me by means of a useless potion? You old coot, you aren't serious, are you?" Solene asked still glaring at the old man whose eyes had widened considerably. She didn't even need to turn to see that McGonnagal had a similar expression on her face.

- "You…You… You should be under the effect of the potion! This was one of Severus' strongest samples!" Dumbledore practically shouted at the young vampire.

- "You idiotic old man. Can't you see? I'm a vampire! V-A-M-P-I-R-E! A vampire! You have apparently never heard of us, otherwise you would know that I was one", she said, shaking her head as if she was disappointed by Dumbledore.

- "You….are a vampire, Miss Granger? How? Why? It wasn't supposed to be like this! You were supposed to be raised by your adoptive, muggle parents! I didn't take you away from your mother just to find out that you are a vampire!", the wizard was practically fuming by the time he finished his little rant and all he got was an amused look from the young vampire in front of him.

- "Well, I don't know if you know, but my "parents", as you called them, were killed. I have a far better father now and I don't even regret becoming a vampire" She told her enraged captor.

Dumbledore was really at a loss of what he should do. Not only was he for the first time clueless, but he was also having problems keeping his temper down. How could it have come down to this? Harry, his Golden Boy, the savior of the wizarding world, was a werewolf and Hermione, the girl who had an immensely important job yet to fulfill, was a vampire. Could it get any worse than this?

- "Headmaster!", came the familiar voice of the schools Potion Master from the stairs leading to the dungeons. Of course, he had to ask….

- "What is it Severus? It better be important" the white-bearded headmaster snapped at the man clad in black. 'So this is this "Severus"' Solene thought as she continued to look at the headmaster in amusement.

Severus Snape was a tall man, had black hair, parted in curtains around his oval face, accentuating his black eyes and as if that wasn't enough black, he was wearing a long, black, button up coat and black, knee-high boots. To Solene it appeared as if an oversized, greasy dungeon bat had entered the room and briefly she wondered if this man could perchance be a vampire like her. He had pale enough skin to be one and the fact that she couldn't smell his scent irritated her to no end. 'That old coot would be happy to know that his lame potion had at least some effect. But why did it have to be the nose? It could have been the taste buds on my tongue, but no, of course the potion had to neutralize my sense of smell. This is definitely not my lucky day….' She thought as she tried again and again to catch even a whiff of the newcomers scent.

Meanwhile Snape was silently wondering what had gotten the headmaster so angry and so he looked around for the source of trouble. It didn't take him more than 2 seconds to find it: there was a girl sitting in a chair in front of the old wizard, looking smugly at him. 'What in the name of Merlin did that girl do to anger him so much?' he asked himself when suddenly his nose became overwhelmed with two new scents. He quickly looked at the girl and immediately knew that she was not human – she was a vampire. Quickly he tried to locate the second scent – a werewolf. Soon he found that it came from the cell to his left, the lycan inside hidden from his view by the cell wall. What were a vampire and a werewolf doing in the dungeons of Hogwarts and how could a mere girl, vampire or not, anger the old coot? 'I hear your thoughts, Severus! Better say what you came to tell me before I loose what little of my self-control remains!' shouted and angry voice in his head. Damn! He had let his

Occlumency shields down!

- "Calm down, Dumbledore. If there were any students in the castle right now, during the summer vacation, you would positively frighten them. Anyway, I just received a letter from Ragnok about you-know-what from you-know-where" the potion master said, first glaring at Dumbledore and then glaring at the girl, as if he was blaming her for the old man's temper.

- "Really? Severus, take Minerva and let her see what the letter says. I have a few things to take care of down here", he ordered the two professors in a monotonous voice.

Without a word the two teachers left the dungeons as quickly as was possible with all the stairs.

- "What did that vampire girl say to get him in such a bad mood?", Snape asked his colleague.

- "What! You knew Hermione was a vampire? How? You didn't even enter until a good 2 minutes after she said that" the Transfigurations professor inquired.

- "You obviously forget what I am, Minerva", Snape answered, obviously annoyed about her question, "and you still haven't answered me", he reminded the middle-aged witch.

- "Ah, well, I don't know. It can be either the fact that the Veritaserum didn't work on her, or that she is a vampire and not a human OR, and I think that this is the reason, that she called our dear Headmaster an "old coot". Which one of these do you think provoked Albus' fury?"

- "Knowing him? Probably all three. Still, to call him an "old coot" in the face….very brave of her" he answered truthfully, although he completely agreed with the vampire girl – Dumbledore was definitely old and he secretly wondered when the man would finally go senile.

The two professors continued their walk to the Headmasters' office, which was on the other side of the castle, far away from the dungeons.

Meanwhile, back in the dungeons, the topic of Snape's and McGonnagal's discussion was pacing the dungeons back and forth, trying to calm his nerves down. This was going to be more difficult than he had planned. Oh, and what he had planned! But now with this new development he would have to reconstruct parts of his plan. First, though, he would have to deal with the young vampire and young lycan. Taking a deep breath, Dumbledore stopped pacing and turned to the bound vampire, releasing her from the ropes, quickly putting her back in her cell (her feet and hands were, again, surrounded by the yellow light) and locking the door tightly.

- "Well, young lady, it seems that I have some work to do, but make no mistake! I will be back soon enough and then we will finish out interrogation – whether you choose the easy or hard way is up to you. I can only pray that you pick correctly. That goes for you as well, Mr. Potter! Now, good day", and off he went - up the stairs and to his office at the far side of the castle.

Slowly relaxing, Solene looked at the boy-lycan in the cell opposite hers and to her surprise found him looking at her in respect and awe.

- "That was bloody brilliant what you did to the old man! By the way, nice choice of words – old coot. I think it fits him perfectly", Alex complimented her achievement a few moments ago.

- "Nah, he didn't even give me a chance to really show him a good choice of words" she said, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. Then, after a few seconds of silence, both started laughing and, for the first time, a vampire and lycan had fun – together.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi people! Here is the next chapter and also the long awaited confrontation/meeting between Viktor and Lucian! I added something new at the end of this one, so please read the entire (web)page.^_^ By the way, this has to be the longest chapter I've ever written. Enjoy!^_^

_**Chapter**__** 6**_

Dumbledore walked down the corridor leading to the two gargoyle statues guarding the entrance to his office. As if sensing the old wizards temper, the two gargoyles opened the entrance to the staircase without even asking the headmaster for the password.

'What do you think has gotten him so angry and furious, Liv?

'No idea, Ed.'

Entering his office, Dumbledore found his deputy and the potions master sitting in front of his desk, discussing something.

- "Quiet the both of you!", he snapped, still angry about the entire dungeon fiasco he just went through.

Both professors immediately stopped talking and looked up to see a very angry Dumbledore walk past them and then sit down on his office chair. The old man waited for a few moments, took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. After several minutes of silence, he looked back up again and watched as his two of his best teachers waited for him to say something.

- "Well? What was in the letter?", he calmly asked them.

- "Ragnok said that tonight there was an attempt to steal the Philosophers stone from the vault, but that whoever tried it was not successful. He requests to know what he should do", Snape answered just as calmly, looking the old wizard in the yes and seeing his famous twinkle gone.

- "Really? If that's all, then you may leave. I shall take care of this problem", Dumbledore said.

Looking at each other, the two professors quickly stood up and went to the office door. Before closing it, McGonnagal turned around and looked at the old headmaster.

- "Be careful of Solene and Alex, Albus. They are not people with whom you should mess around", the middle-aged witch warned him before quickly closing the door, not giving the angry headmaster time to answer.

'Minerva, Minerva….I don't think that you are right on this matter. If I'll do anything, it will exactly be mess around with them. For all I know, they deserve it', he thought as he leaned back in his chair, stapled his fingers and looked at the beautiful phoenix sitting on its perch.

Meanwhile, Alex and Solene were again discussing their situation after Solene's confrontation with the wizards and witch.

- "I don't know about you, Alex, but I think that this Severus guy is really strange. I could not take in his scent because of that stupid potion, but you should have been able to. So tell me – is he a vampire or not?", Solene asked the young lycan sitting in the cell across from her.

- "You know, despite the fact that your sense of smell was neutralized, you sure have a good intuition. He smells like a vamp alright, but it was somehow different from you", Alex answered the young vampires question, wondering how she could have found out that that man was a vampire without getting his scent.

- "Yes, I thought that he was sort of different. His eyes were a very dark shade of brown, almost black, which is unusual for our kind – we all have blue eyes. So that must mean that he either has only been bitten by a vampire once and has vampire venom in his system, giving him some of our character traits, or that he has vampire blood in his veins, meaning that he is a half-vampire. Either way, he is not full vampire and not full human."

- "Now that I think of it, there was something human about his cent, but as you said, it was not that of a normal person", Alex said.

- "Putting that greasy dungeon bat aside, I think I managed to find out who their leader is. I think that it's the old coot, because they both seemed afraid of him when he got angry. I bet that the old coot or that witch would not be afraid if that other man were to become angry."

- "Hmm…Your deduction has logic, Solene. I think that if we continue like this that we will eventually figure everything out."

Solene didn't really hear what the boy-lycan said. Her thoughts were turned towards home, where her father was probably worried about her. If she ever got out of that cell, she would make sure to kill the witch. She would let Alex have the old coot – he didn't mean anything to her.

_**Meanwhile at the manor…**___

Victor waited patiently for his guards who would bring Lucian to him. He still couldn't think of a reason why the lycans would come here willingly and take the risk of being killed…Especially Lucian…

Suddenly he heard a quick knock on the door of the living room and quickly sat down on one of the three chairs in front of the blazing fire roaring in the fireplace.

- "Enter"

The door opened and his two guards came in with Lucian and, if Viktor remembered correctly, that big slave who had once protested to becoming a lycan so many years ago. The guards closed the door and positioned themselves to the left and right of it, ready to fire if anything should happen.

- "Leave us", Viktor ordered his guards. The surprised men bowed their heads in respect and quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

After making sure that his guards had left, Viktor turned around to face Lucian and Raze, who were still standing in front of the door, and was surprised to see that Lucian looked just as tired as he was, as if he hadn't slept at all. Viktor thought about the last few days and how he hadn't even slept once since that witch took his Solene. The vampires in the manor had been very worried about their lord. Viktor quickly turned his attention back to his "meeting" with Lucian and his second in command.

- "We may be enemies, but that does not in any way excuse my lack of manners. Lucian, Raze, please sit down", he said, almost smiling at the surprised looks of his two late-night visitors.

The Lycan Master and his friend sat down on the two chairs opposite the vampire elder's chair. Surprisingly, with the warming fire and the comfortable chairs, they felt rather welcome here, despite the fact that this was their enemy's manor.

- "Now that you are seated, let's get down to business. Lucian, I'm curious as to why you are here in the first place?", Viktor asked the lycan leader and looked at him with a puzzling expression on his face.

Lucian had been surprised at Viktor's apology and invitation to sit down in the beginning, but now he was completely taken aback. Viktor had never shown any sort of expression when Lucian had been a slave! Deciding to see what would happen if he ignored Viktor's question and what would be his reaction to it, he asked one of his own.

- "What happened to you and why are you being so nice, friendly and polite to us, Viktor?"

To Lucian's and Raze's utter astonishment, Viktor smiled slightly and calmly answered the question.

- "Why? Well, Lucian, I've changed. I guess that my near death experience has taught me something – I'm not going to repeat my mistakes, not with my Solene. Never with her. She is the most important person in my heart and she is the one who changed me. I'm not cruel and cold-hearted anymore, unless I can't avoid it and it is necessary"

- "Who is Solene? Your girlfriend, lover or wife, Viktor?", Lucian tried to anger Viktor and see how far he could go.

Again, doing the unexpected, Viktor laughed a hearty laugh, as if he actually really found it funny, and not a fake one.

- "Well, Lucian, I can tell you that my answer is no to each and every single one of your questions. If you really want to know, Solene is my adoptive daughter. I saved her 6 years ago from a rogue lycan who attacked and murdered her family and was about to kill her as well, when I shot and consequently killed it. Do not worry, it was not one of your lycans. As I said, it was a rogue one and was rather strange – very different from your race. It had no fur at all and had longer and thinner arms and legs. Since her family was dead and she was injured very badly by the werewolf, I took her in and turned her into a vampire, for she would have died at too young an age, being only 5 years old. Ever since then she has managed to progressively worm her way into my heart and now I even regard her as my real daughter, for she brings me joy like a daughter would to her father", was Viktor's long reply.

Lucian watched Viktor as he answered his second question and he could clearly see the changes that had taken place in the vampire elder. He spoke lovingly and with pride of this Solene like he would have talked about his daughter if he had had one. Sonja…Oh, how Lucian missed his Sonja. He would never forgive Viktor for killing her and their unborn child, but now that he was once again face to face with him, he couldn't help but realize that the strict and cruel vampire elder was no more. Instead, he had become a completely different man and if it weren't for his appearance, Lucian would not have believed that it was his enemy I front of him.

- "If you care so much for a child, then you will understand my problem as well. You see, I, like you, rescued a young boy from his abusive aunt, uncle and cousin six years ago. He wanted a family and even when I told him about us being werewolves and explained him our way of life, he still wanted to be part of our group, just to be loved and cherished - something, which he was deprived of at the early age of 5. I granted him his wish, made him a lycan and, just like your Solene, Alex has managed to capture the hearts of the entire clan", Lucian told the vampire, who watched him and saw that Lucian deeply cared for this young boy, Alex.

- "Lucian! Why are you telling him about Alex! For all we know, he could kill him like he killed our kind so many years ago, when the war started!", Raze warned Lucian. Not as second in command, but as a friend.

When he heard those words, Viktor's eyes darkened, as if they showed sadness and hurt at what raze had said.

- "Yes, it's true", Viktor quietly said, making both Raze and Lucian listen more carefully,"I wanted you dead all those years ago. The rest of the lycans, yes, especially Lucian. I almost regarded him as a son and when I found out about his affaire with my daughter I couldn't help but feel betrayed. A feeling that has blinded me for so many years, until one day, or rather night, my little Solene said something to me: "You shouldn't punish yourself for something that has happened in the past or dwell on it, because it only blinds you. People should just move on and learn from their mistakes". She was, as I constantly found out, much more intelligent and wiser than children her age. I took her advice to heart and I have tried ever since to not do the same mistakes ever again."

A few moments of silence followed the vampire elder's small and short speech, during which all three men look at their feet, as if ashamed of what has happened. Slowly, they all looked up at each other and there seemed to be a mutual, silent understanding – what's past is past. Viktor turned to Lucian and repeated his question.

- "So, since I answered your questions, will you finally answer mine? Why are you here and what is that problem you mentioned?"

- "Well, about 3 days ago, an old man, who was a wizard, came to out headquarters. He had come for Alex and I was just about to attack him when he suddenly disappeared, along with Alex" Lucian quickly explained, watching as a look of recognition crossed Viktor's face, promptly followed by one of anger.

- "I see that we share a common problem. A witch came here 3 days ago as well and she just took my Solene. I had grabbed her throat before the throne room suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a forest and a castle one or two miles away. I released her and was too confused to see a jet of red light coming towards me. It hit me squarely in the chest and I fell unconscious. The next thing I know is the sound of a faint pop as I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the throne room again. I tried to locate this castle, which was somehow connected to that letter my dear girl received a few days ago. But my search was all in vain, for it seems that there is no such castle. I have taken the liberty of contacting an old friend of mine, who knows every single castle in the world. I am awaiting his arrival tomorrow night."

- "The sun is going to rise soon. I hope that we can somehow stay in contact. Do you have e-mail?", Lucian asked, wondering if the ancient (or almost ancient) vampire was up to date.

- "I may be a vampire elder, but that does not mean that I do not follow the development of the modern world and its technologies. Of course I have an e-mail. Here it is", was Viktor's amused answer, before he took a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down something on it. He folded the paper and handed it to the lycan master.

Lucian thanked Viktor and left the living room, immediately followed by his second in command and friend Raze. He would have to think about everything that had happened in that meeting and see what the best way to act would be. He remembered the folded paper and looked at the e-mail address Viktor had given him.

'What the…"The First Elder"?' Oh well, some people never change….

Hi people! I hope you enjoyed this chapter a lot.^_^ Now, I know that there are those of you who just read my story, chapter after chapter, and don't review, but let me tell you a secret…(put in dramatic or very mysterious music)…I am a review vampire! I need reviews to live! I thrive on them, so please, feed me!(makes puppy eyes)^_^

Viktor: A review vampire? I never thought there was one of those….

Lady Avotil: What the…? What are you doing out here? Get back in my head! You are going to be seriously grounded, mister!

Lucian: Oh, come on, don't be so hard on him. He only made a comment and you yourself said that you live on comment, right?

Lady Avotil: What? Hey, that's two against one, no fair! Get back inside my head, the both of you!

Solene: Why? We have just as much right to be outside as the other author's characters! (holds up "freedom for characters" sign).

Alex: Yeah, she's right! (also holds up sign)

Lucian: Alex, since when do you agree with girls?

Alex: Um…since I met Solene…?

Lucian: That's it! You're getting out of that prison cell, right now.

Alex: But Lucian! I can't! She (points to Lady Avotil) still hasn't written the part where I DO get out.

Lady Avotil: Please, people, be quiet! You're giving me a headache!(rubs head)

Everyone: Sorry!

Lady Avotil: At least none of the wizards are here…

Dumbles: So this is where you are! (glares at Lady Avotil)

Lady Avotil: I just had to say that….

Dumbles: How dare you let her (points at Solene) call me "old coot"! I'm not that old or crazy!

Lady Avotil: Oh really? Didn't you just recently celebrate your…let me see…175th birthday? And didn't you, also recently, think that your wand was your toothbrush and ended up in the Hospital Wing with blackened teeth?

Dumbles: Um, yes? Never mind, just forget it (stomps angrily away)

Lady Avotil: Finally! I thought that I would have to argue with him until he went away (turns to everyone else) Alright, now back to you guys. How about we make a deal: I let you out every time I publish a new chapter and you can comment on it, and the rest of the time you stay in my head. Do we have an accord?

Alex: Well, sounds fine to me (drops sign, shakes hands with Lady Avotil and disappears with a "puff!")

Lucian: Appears to be reasonable (does the same as Alex)

Viktor: It's a fair deal. See you next chapter (waves happily at Lady Avotil and puffs away)

Lady Avotil: What about you, Solene? You must agree that it's a good deal, so why don't you join everyone else?

Solene: Never! You are limiting our freedom!

Lady Avotil: That may be so, but it's better than no time out at all, right?

Solene: Well…Oh, alright. I give up (shakes hands with Lady Avotil and puffs away)

Lady Avotil: Finally some peace and quiet (turns to readers) Sorry about that. Really. They are a bit rebellious, that's all. Anyway, look forwards to the next chapter where the guest will be revealed. In the mean time until that happens, please comment and review this chapter!^_^


	9. Chapter 9

_**N.B.:**_ Hi people! Here is the long-awaited chapter 7! Yes, in reviews where I said "stay tuned for chapter 8" I made a mistake. But what can I do? Even an author sometimes loses count of their chapters, right? Anyway, the long guessing of who the surprise guest might be has now come to an end! This chapter is specially for people who love Viktor and the surprise guest (yeah, as I would tell you who it is)! Enjoy!^_^

_**Chapter 7**_

_**The next evening at the manor, at 9:00 p.m. …..**_

The guards standing at the entrance doors of the manor had seen a great many strange things during the past couple of centuries and last night was no exception – the lycan master Lucian himself had come to the manor and had left it alive! The guards thought that that was at the top of their list of strange events, but what was happening now beat everything.

An unnatural fog had started creeping to the manor a few minutes ago, but that could hardly be described as strange. Fogs did happen to appear in Hungary after all. But this fog was denser than a normal one, faster and it was moving _**against**_ the wind. Suddenly, just before the eerie fog reached the guards, it started to gather at one spot, getting denser and denser, slowly forming a body and then, after a few seconds, there stood a man in front of them!

Immediately they knew that that was no ordinary human. Well, no ordinary human can turn into fog, right? He was a man around 40 years of age and wore a black military jacket, black military pant and black boots. On top of all that was a black cape that reached the man's ankles. His jet-black hair was pulled back into a pony tail held by a golden ___ and a few stray strands were surrounding his face, accentuating his eyes that were the dark colour of midnight.

The man looked at the guards and when he spoke, he spoke with a slight Romanian accent.

-"Your lord is expecting me"

The guards looked at each other, silently agreeing that this man was not to be angered and opened the entrance doors to the manor. The man smiled at the guards as he passed by them and nodded his thank you.

The stranger continued through the manor as if he had been there before and soon found himself in front of the living room doors, where he presumed his old friend was waiting for him. Knocking on the door he didn't wait for a reply and just entered the room, closing the doors behind him.

-"Vladislaus, my old friend!", Viktor warmly greeted his visitor, standing up from his chair and stretching out his hand.

-"It's nice to see you too, Viktor" answered the Romanian whilst shaking hands with the elder and sitting down in the comfortable chair opposite Viktor's.

-"How long has it been? 500 or 600 years?"

-"Yes, a long time, my friend. I'm very happy that you answered my e-mail and came so quickly" Viktor thanked his old friend, ice-blue eyes meeting midnight blue ones.

-"I see in your eyes that you are eager to get down to business. That's very uncharacteristic of you, old friend. Has something happened since I last saw you?", Vladislaus asked, curiosity showing on his face.

-"Yes, Vladislaus. It's a long story and I wish for you to hear it in full. It is connected to the reason I asked you to come"

-"I see that this is important to you, so I will listen", he said, nodding for Viktor to start his story.

After 1 hour of talking and telling Solene's story and then her kidnapping to his friend, Viktor couldn't help but feel tears threatening to come out and roll down his pale cheeks. When he finally finished with the story, Viktor's throat was parched and so he took out two glasses, one for himself and one for Vladislaus. Then he went over to a mini-refrigerator and took out a wine bottle filled with blood. He went back to his seat and poured some of the red liquid into his and his guest's glass.

- "This Solene you told me about….She's very dear to you, isn't she, Viktor?", asked the Romanian, intrigued by the story.

- "Yes, she is the most precious thing in my heart. That's why I wanted you to come – to locate this castle. My trackers seem to have problems finding it…and so do Lucian's."

- "Lucian? Isn't he that lycan you told me you wanted to kill?", the strange man asked, confused by that last addition to his old friends sentence.

- "Once, yes. I have learned to move on from the past, thanks to my little Solene. I now have a sort of temporary truce with him, for he and I both face the same problem – his adopted son, just like my Solene, was kidnapped by the same type of people – wizards"

- "I see. So you want me to help you find this castle? Just give me something that belongs to your Solene and I shall find your castle."

Finding something to give to Vladislaus that belonged to Solene was more difficult for Viktor than he though. He had entered Solene's room and after spending an hour and a half in her room he still couldn't find something suitable to give to his friend, afraid that the objects in his daughter's room held some significance for her. Finally he decided that one of the few dresses his beloved girl had would have to do. She hated dresses anyway, so it wouldn't be a big loss for her. He quickly went back to the living room where he had left his friend and found him standing over a small cauldron, smoke rising from whatever he had brewed during Viktor's search.

- "Here you go – a dress that belongs to my Solene. She doesn't really like dresses, so she surely wouldn't mind if you use it" he told his visitor, handing him the dress.

Immediately the scent of Solene's dress caught his friend's attention and he quickly took the dress. He sniffed at it and something within him stirred, as if he recognized the scent from somewhere. He concentrated once more on his present task, took out a dagger he had strapped to his left leg and cut off a small piece of the dress with it. He put his dagger away again and threw the cut out piece of the dress into the potion he had made. Turning to his old friend he explained what the potion would do.

- "This, my friend, is a potion that will tell me where this castle that you seek is" he turned back to the blue potion and patiently waited for it to take effect.

Soon, the potion's originally dark blue colour turned into a crimson red one and then a map was projected just above the cauldron, showing Great Britain. There was a big red circle around Scotland, showing the location of the castle. Seeing the big red circle and not the usual red dot, Vladislaus frowned and looked at his friend who was looking at him expectantly.

- "It seems that your castle is protected by some very powerful shields. It could take years to pinpoint the exact location of it. Before you ask why you would need the exact location, the reason is that these wards are there to protect this castle's occupants…probably students, since you mentioned that this castle was a school….from dark creatures, unless they are granted access from the leader of this school…it's headmaster. Or at least that is what I presume, my old friend. One can never be too sure in matters of magic. It will take some time to get the shields out of the way. I shall, if you wish to, stay here and conduct some research on them, so that you would be able to bring them down. Also, I would like to know more about your precious Solene", was Vladislaus' long explanation.

- "I…see. Stay, if you like and I will gladly tell you more about my dear Solene. All my books are at your disposition. Just, please, find a way to locate the castle and get my Solene back. Please. Now, my friend, if you don't mind, I have to write an e-mail to Lucian", said Viktor, before he turned on the spot and strode out of the living room and into his bedroom. There he sat down in front of his desk where his laptop was. He had to give the humans some credit – this technology was clever and practical.

To: 

From: 

Subject: Progress

Lucian,

My friend, Count Vladislaus Dragulia, who is also a vampire, came today and said that it could take a few years to get the exact location of the castle, but so far as we know it is situated somewhere in the middle of Scotland.

Tell your trackers to try and find the castle. Just to see if we really need the exact location. It would spare us a lot of time if we did.

Answer this e-mail a.s.a.p.

Your friend,

Viktor

Vampire Elder

After finishing the e-mail, the vampire elder clicked the "send" button and sat back into his chair, thinking about the recent developments. If Lucian's trackers do not succeed in finding the castle, they would have to wait several years to finally locate it. Until then his beloved Solene could very well be….He didn't even want to go down that painful line of thought. He would be truly lost without her.

The tired vampire elder sat there for some time, contemplating the possible ways of finding the castle without the potion and the future, when his laptop gave a small, but loud enough for Viktor to hear "beep". The vampire turned to his computer and saw a window had appeared.

You have 1 new message

Viktor quickly opened the "yahoo" website and saw that he had received an e-mail from Lucian. He clicked the "open" button and read the lycan masters reply to his e-mail.

To: 

From: 

Subject: RE: Progress

Viktor,

I have sent my trackers to Scotland and I, just like you, I suppose, hope that they can find it. I cannot wait to see Alex again. I hope that they, the children, are alright and that they can figure out how to get away from there themselves. It's always easier to escape with inside help than with outside help, but who would be willing to aid them in their attempt?

This friend of yours….His name sounds familiar. Could he, per chance, be the famous Count Dracula from Transylvania? If he is indeed, then I am most curious to find out a bit more about him. For example, his age. Is he older or younger than you (in vampire years of course)?

I must go now, for I have a lot of work to do.

Your friend,

Lucian

Lycan Master

To: 

From: 

Subject: RE: Re: Progress

Lucian,

That is good news and you are indeed correct – I, too, hope that they find that accursed castle. Likewise, my friend. Solene is the most important person in my heart and life and I wish that I could see her again. You are correct about the escaping. It is indeed far easier with inside help, but who would provide it? I do not know the answer to that question. Perhaps they can convince someone or even find a fellow vampire or lycan who could then help them out.

Yes, he is indeed the one you speak of, except his name is Dragulia in his native Romanian language. Ah, yes, he is a very dear friend and he is only 200 years younger than me, give or take a few decades. Anything else you wish to know about him? You are quite right to be curious, for he is quite an intriguing figure.

I, too, have work to do. Keep in touch.

Your friend,

Viktor

Vampire Elder

Sending his reply, Viktor stood up and walked back to the living room, wondering what his friend had been doing all this time. He found his friend pacing in front of the fireplace, not even noticing Viktor's entrance. Solene's dress was carefully laid on the arm of the chair and Viktor's brooding friend glanced from time to time at it. Finally, he looked up and saw Viktor leaning on the door frame, an amused look in his eyes.

- "Why are you thinking so much, my friend?"

- "Well, I have been thinking of where I should start my research", was his friends smooth answer. But unbeknownst to Viktor, this was a lie. Vladislaus couldn't remember for the life of him where he had smelled that scent before and this had been driving him crazy this entire time, hence the brooding and pacing.

- "I think I will start my research tomorrow evening. Until then I would like to stay in my room. Speaking of which, where is it?"

- "It's right across Solene's, upstairs, down the hallway, the fourth door to the left", answered the vampire elder.

- "Thank you, I think that I should rest now. By the way, Viktor, you should rest as well. It seems as if you haven't slept these past few days, my friend"

- "I've been trying to find that blasted castle and I was worried about my Solene. I am sure that I would have had nightmares"

- "Well, rest assured, my old friend, you will find your Solene again. But until then, sleep"

With that the Count exited the room and went searching for his room on the upper floor. Finding it, he opened the door and immediately walked to the bed. After closing the heavy, black curtains, undressing and lying down, he thought how Viktor's daughter's room was just across his. The temptation to look around it was great, but he told himself that he needed the rest and so he fell asleep just as the suns first rays peeked above the horizon.

Meanwhile Viktor himself was lying down in his bed, thinking of how he would find his beloved daughter and as soon as his head hit the pillow, sleep overtook him.

_**N.B.: **_Hi people! I hope you liked this chapter! Especially my surprise guest! I hope that you remember my words from last chapter, but I will repeat them again – please review this chapter, this story! Keep me alive so that I can continue writing it!^_^

_**Viktor**_: I liked this chapter. I had a lot of moments in it.

_**Solene:**_ You may have, father, but me and Alex and pretty much everyone else didn't!

_**Lady Avotil**_: Solene, if you think about it, you and Alex and everyone else is in every other chapter so far and poor Viktor hasn't had that much attention. Think about it.

_**Solene:**_ Well……I guess that you are right. But still! We didn't have any part in this chapter at all!

_**Lady **__**Avotil:**_ Offf….I am in no mood to argue with you.

_**Count Vladislaus Dragulia (in short C.V.D.):**_ Yes, young vampire, you heard what your creator said, so stop complaining.

_**Lady Avotil:**_ Thank you, Count. I haven't been feeling well lately and a headache is really not what I need right now. Stupid flu…And stupid diet my doctor put me on! I want some normal food, not just bread and biscuits and cheese….

_**C.V.D.:**_ Does Italian sound good to you, my dear?

_**Lady Avotil:**_ Um…yes, but why do you ask, Count?

_**C.V.D.:**_ Well, I can't let my creator go hungry, can I? I'm taking you out to this lovely Italian restaurant I know in Budapest. How does that sound, my love?

_**Lady Avotil:**_ "My love"? Oh, doesn't matter. I can't say no to an invitation from a Count now, can I? Lead the way, Count!

_**C.V.D.:**_ As you wish, my dear. Oh, and do call me Vlad…(they go off into the distance, but Lady Avotil comes running back)

_**Lady Avotil:**_ Ah, sorry, I forgot to say bye to my lovely readers! So, bye and please, please review my story! Oh, and just to add a little detail – I love long reviews and I answer each and every single one! I also almost forgot, stay tuned for the next chapter and maybe a surprise!^_^


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